Eisenhower and the 1950’s

Election of 1952  Stevenson runs for Democrats  Eisenhower (Ike) runs with Nixon  War hero, grandfather image  Nixon needs “Checkers Speech”  Power of TV

Desegregation of the South  Jim Crow still exists  Vigilante justice rampant (Lynchings)  Jackie Robinson broke color barrier, but racism still abounds  Rosa Parks, MLK, NAACP all take stands  Public was being made aware of the issues through peaceful protest methods

1952 Election Ike – Blue Stephenson - Red

Desegregation of the South  Brown vs. Board of Education 1954  Chief Justice Earl Warren cites that “separate is inherently not equal” and reverses decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson  Deep South will not integrate  Only 2% of eligible black students sat in class with whites 10 years after decision

Desegregation of the South  Little Rock 9 – 9 students that went to attend Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas  Governor Faubas stood at door, refusing to allow them to attend  Using National Guard, Ike gets students in  MLK forms SCLC to organize blacks  Sit ins are used in Greensboro, NC  Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee is formed

Societal Growth?  Jonas Salk creates vaccination against Polio  Bracero Program is ended – deportation of Mexican farmers  Reversal of FDR’s Indian policies and reverts to Dawes Act ideals  Interstate Highway Act  AFL merges with CIO

Vietnam  SEATO – Southeast Asia Treaty Organization  Domino Theory proposed

Middle East  CIA organizes a coup-d’etat in Iran  Egypt – Nasser flirts with U.S.S.R. for $ to build Aswan Dam  Egypt takes the Suez Canal  1956 War – Britain, France, & Israel attack Egypt – U.S. does not support this (oil)  OPEC is created

Sputnik  Soviet satellite is launched  Demoralizes Americans  National Defense and Education Act passed - $887 million

Ike and the U.S.S.R  U-2 Incident  Hungarian revolt  Paris Peace Conference

Cold War in Latin America  Castro takes over in Cuba  Khrushchev promises missiles to defend Cuba if American intervenes  Ike gives $500 million to Latin America (Marshall Plan for Latin America) to fend off communism  Too little, too late

Political Issues during Ike’s Presidency  22 nd Amendment  Alaska & Hawaii become states

Consumerism  IBM, Boeing introduced  Blue collar to white collar jobs  Labor unions dwindle  More women work  Stereotype for women is still “Leave it to Beaver”  Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is written

Consumerism  Diner’s Club Card  McDonalds  Disneyland  Television  Sports and movement  Rock and Roll Music

Writers of the 1950’s  Riesman & Wilson – condemned consumerism  Galbraith – questioned private wealth  Vonnegut – Wrote of the suffering from war  Others wrote of the problems of creating classes in society based on wealth  Playwrights (Miller, Williams) created characters in search of “American Values” and what they were  African American writers & Playwrights (A Raisin in the Sun) exposed reality of life for blacks